The Federalist Criticism: Influences And Origins - Essay

George Mace (essay date 1979)

SOURCE: Mace, George. “The Federalist: From the Truth of Speculation to the Utility of Practice.” In Locke, Hobbes, and the Federalist Papers: An Essay on the Genesis of the American Political Heritage, pp. 98-122. Carbondale: Southern Illinois University Press, 1979.

[In the following essay, Mace examines the influence of Locke and Hobbes on Publius's ideas in The Federalist Papers, noting that Publius improves upon their political theory by adding a way to ensure liberty and stability.]

“In a way beset with those that contend, on one side for too great Liberty, and on the other side for too much Authority, 'tis hard to passe between...

Thomas L. Pangle (essay date 1986)

SOURCE: Pangle, Thomas L. “The Federalist Papers' Vision of Civic Health and the Tradition Out of Which That Vision Emerges.” Western Political Quarterly 39, no. 4 (December 1986): 577-602.

[In the following essay, Pangle explores The Federalist Papers's use of and deviation from the classical tradition of Republicanism, suggesting that Publius developed a new definition of civic virtue. Citing influences such as Machiavelli, Hume, and Montesquieu, Pangle highlights the path of Publius in creating a new idea of civic health and of liberty itself.]

The bicentennial of the American Constitution invites us to reconsider not only the legal and...